Was Cruz able to go to the bathroom?

Sep. 25, 2013
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Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas / J. Scott Applewhite, AP

by Catalina Camia, USA TODAY

by Catalina Camia, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON -- It's the question on the minds of many: Did Sen. Ted Cruz take a bathroom break during his 21-hour protest of President Obama's health care law?

The Texas Republican's office so far isn't saying.

When then-Sen. Strom Thurmond set his filibuster record in 1957 of 24 hours, 18 minutes, he made sure there was a bucket ready in the Senate cloakroom if he needed to take a bathroom break.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., joked in March that his bladder prevented him from talking longer than the 12 hours, 52 minutes he spent opposing the Obama administration's drone policy. He even told radio talk show host Glenn Beck that he thought about using a catheter during his filibuster.

Texas State Sen. Wendy Davis, a Democrat, reportedly wore a urinary catheter during her 11-hour protest in June of a bill to restrict abortion, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Joel Burns, who succeeded Davis on the Fort Worth City Council, told the newspaper about the catheter but said Davis rejected the idea of a continuous IV drip to sustain her throughout the talkathon.

Cruz probably snuck in some snacking - just as Paul did - because there is a drawer full of candy on the Senate floor.

If you watched on C-SPAN, Cruz was out of camera view as GOP senators such as Marco Rubio and Mike Lee - and even Democrat Dick Durbin - were speaking. Although Cruz yielded to them as they asked questions, he never gave up control of the floor.

Technically, what the Tea Party favorite did wasn't a filibuster because Cruz could not prevent the Senate from having a scheduled vote later Wednesday on a procedural move tied to the stopgap spending bill.